June is Aphasia Awareness Month—Join the Celebration!

June is National Aphasia Awareness Month and this year’s host group is the Big Sky Aphasia Program in Missoula, Mont.. This year’s theme is “ It’s Never Too Late To Communicate” and the National Aphasia Association (NAA) is encouraging professionals, consumers, community support groups and aphasia centers nationwide to raise public awareness about aphasia in June and has a poster and resource packet available.

Thanks to Senator Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) for, once again, co-sponsoring the resolution to proclaim June as National Aphasia Awareness Month! You can find the resolution here.

This year we launched a month-long social media contest to help the public understand aphasia and how to communicate with people who have aphasia. We are proud to introduce our new social media intern, Laura Cobb, whose first assignment is serving as spokesperson for the Aphasia Awareness Month contest. Laura is 27 years old and lives in St, Louis, Mo.. In September 2008 she was a student at Washington University majoring in psychology and hoping to work in the field of autism when her car was struck by a drunk driver as she returned home from studying. Laura suffered a stroke resulting in aphasia along with other injuries including a partial hearing loss for which she wears bilateral hearing aids.With intensive speech services, Laura has been able to regain a good portion of her ability to communicate. She continues to receive speech and language treatment and continues to improve. We first met Laura when she created her own video for You Tube on “How to Talk to Someone with Aphasia.” Her video has received more than 200,000 views to date and she was interviewed for an article in the Huffington Post.

“I’m excited to work with the NAA now,” says Laura in the first of her weekly video clips discussing the NAA’s contest, which encourages people to post about aphasia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube using the hashtag #AphasiaAwarenessMonth. Each week, participants are tasked with a different challenge. For example, in week one, people were asked to answer the question “What is aphasia?” In week two, participants shared their tips for communicating with people with aphasia and in week three they posted pictures of themselves with the June poster. Click here to learn about this week’s challenge.

“It’s never too late to communicate. So, we want your tips. My favorite tip: speak s-l-o-w-l-y,” says Laura. At the end of each week, a winner will be selected randomly and awarded a series of aphasia-related prizes; then a new weekly challenge will be announced. At the end of the five-week contest, the top prize, an iPad Mini, will be awarded on June 27. There is no cost to participate. The more people post using #AphasiaAwarenessMonth, the more chances they have to win and the more we can raise awareness of aphasia!

But that’s not all you can do. Here are some other suggestions as to how you can celebrate National Aphasia Awareness Month in June:

Send packets of information to doctors and other professionals and staff who work with aphasia (e.g. physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, nurses). Training for these groups would be very helpful in dealing with the communication difficulties.

Provide training workshops and support groups for family and caregivers.

Provide workshops for local religious groups – many of these have existing programs for helping people in the community.

Display posters and disseminate materials in local shopping centers, libraries and supermarkets about aphasia.

Set up an information table to educate employees, patients and families about aphasia.

Get your city/town to pass a resolution proclaiming June as National Aphasia Awareness Month- we can provide you with the template.

Remember, aphasia advocacy and increasing awareness is a year round activity so join the effort! For more information or to receive your Aphasia Awareness Month packet, contact the NAA’s Response Center at 800-922-4622 or visit the NAA website.

Ellayne S. Ganzfried, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and the Executive Director of the National Aphasia Association. She is Past President of the NYS Speech Language Hearing Association (NYSSLHA), Long Island Speech Language Hearing Association (LISHA) and the Council of State Association Presidents for Speech Language Pathology and Audiology (CSAP) and remains active in these associations. Ellayne is a Fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA). She was a site visitor for ASHA’s Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) and a practitioner member of the CAA for four years. She is currently on ASHA’s Committee on Honors. Ellayne has created and managed several speech, hearing and rehabilitation programs in New York and Massachusetts. She is an adjunct instructor at Adelphi University-Garden City –NY. Ellayne has written articles and presented regionally and nationally on a variety of topics including aphasia, rehabilitation and leadership skills.

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